Interviews

Interviews: Dropkick Murphys

We recently had the opportunity to interview Al Barr, the new lead singer of Hell-Cat Records artists, Dropkick Murphys. They were playing with the Cuffs, fellow boston bandmates Duckboys, and Oxymoron from Germany. It was quite an interesting show at the Capitol Ballroom in Washington, D.C. and by the end of the show, the stage was flooded with tons of punks singing along in classic Dropkick Murphys style. This interview was done by Jesse and special guest Jay "sexiest man alive" Littleton.

Smother: So are you really against all of the new restrictions and stuff that bouncers are putting on kids at shows?

Al: No, of course not. Oh fuck yeah! Screw those kids! No, actually we played a benefit to start off the tour for venues in Boston. We played the benefit for the old manager of Blanks 77. She's trying to start a cafe/record store/club, so we did a benefit for her and it was at a church in Ducksbury, Mass. and Ducksbury is a posh little rich town and kids came from everywhere to the show and just invaded the town. The place was so tiny and so cramped and we thought everyone was going to rip it apart, but everyone was very respectful and our tour manager even snuck about 75 people in the back door. It's usually really cool, but when we played the Trocadero in Philly last night, it was really tough because there were guards and bouncers everywhere.

Smother: What do you think about the big stages at some shows? I noticed the size of the one tonight and I was just remembering when I saw you guys a few years ago and the stage was on the ground and that was a great show, but with higher stages, it gets harder for the crowd to interact sometimes.

Al: I'd like the stage to be lower and everything and I do like a stage, but only in terms of hearing yourself and having some room. When we played in New Jersey, we were in a room half this size (picture a living room) and there were 400 people lined up in there. So we were all shoulder to shoulder in the band and I just like having room to move around. I like to play shows with the lowered floor so the crowd can get some action, but it's nice to be able to put on a performance too.

Smother: I was noticing on the new album that some of the songs, like the streetpunk stuff came really easily but some of the hardcore songs sounded forced. Was it a struggle to write those?

Al: I didn't really have anything to do with the writing of the new songs, because when I joined the band they were already operating. I think that everything the band writes is natural; it all just comes out and it's not like it's formulated or anything. Whatever sounds good to us, we go with it.

Smother: So what's going on on the road now?

Al: Well, it's been about 13 months since "Do or Die" came out and we're going to be on the road for about a year now, going to europe and doing the warped tour and all of that. So I'm really just seeing my wife about every 2 weeks now and that's hard.

Smother: How do all the "significant others" of the band deal with you guys being on the road all the time?

Al: It's really hard. When you hear a band talking about touring being hard, that's what they're referring to; being away from your family. Our guitar played has got a couple of kids, I've got dogs, y'know? I miss my wife like crazy, but I miss my fucking bed, y'know? My remote control and my chair and everything, I'm 31 years old and when I get home, I just don't move out of my chair, I just watch tv all day.

Smother: So who are some of your influences?

Al: I've been listening to punk music since 1982 and I grew up listening to your basic Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, Agnostic Front, all those classics with a british influence. I listened to the whole world of punk and I wouldn't say that one band influenced me but a culmination of the all.

Smother: What would you say has been the most enjoyable band to tour with?

Al: I really, really liked tour with U.S. Bombs, and we're really enjoying our tour with Ducky Boys and Oxymoron right now. Everybody we tour with is someone we like, we usually pick the bands from people that we know and admire. U.S. Bombs and Agnostic Front was a huge honor for us. We just did a mini tour in Europe with Bombshell Cocks and they were fucking great. They're from Sweden and they're on Sidekicks records, which is a subsidary of Burning Heart. They're on the level of Rancid. They're 21 and they're really on it, really good singers.

Smother: With you personally, you've been on the road for a while and would you say that that has definitely aged you? Would you give up any of it just to get some of your home life back?

Al: I've been on the road for a real long while. I've been in this band for 10 and a half months and we've already played 150 shows and it hasn't even been a year yet that I've been with them. I wouldn't trade anything for this though, it definitely takes its toll, but it's great, it has its downtimes and my wife is with me right now, so I'm really happy.

Smother: You've played in Europe a bunch, how do you like the scene there?

Al: It depends on where you play, but I love it. I've done 5 tours through there and I'm also half German and my mother and father live in Vienna, they've been living there for the last 14 years and I lived there when I was younger and I speak German fluently, so that's a plus.

Smother: Have you been getting a real good reaction from your new record on the road?

Al: Yeah, so far what we're getting is someone saying they really love "Do or Die" but saying that we had outdone ourselves with the new album. And after all, Rolling Stone liked it and that's really crazy, we got 3 and a half stars and Elton John only got 3! But that's a big deal for me, because I've been singing for 17 years and I started off in choir when I was just a little kid and now my parents are all proud and it's pretty cool, it's a good feeling.

Smother: There's this one question that we ask everyone that we interview and that's if you met a kid named Carbomb, what would you think?

Al: A kid named Carbomb? Is there such a kid? I'd say he probably don't have a lick of sense! With a name like Carbomb...